Antibody responses to deamidated gliadin peptide show high specificity and parallel antibodies to tissue transglutaminase in developing coeliac disease.

Coeliac disease (CD) is an enteropathy induced in genetically susceptible individuals by gluten components, gliadin, hordein and secalin, polypeptides present in cereals such as wheat, barley and rye, respectively. Although the disease starts as intolerance to gliadins, antibodies to tissue transglutaminase (tTG) in the gut epithelium are characteristic of the disease. Whereas serum autoantibodies against tTG (tTGA) are highly specific for CD, antibodies to gliadin are less informative as they can also be detected in other enteropathies, and even in healthy individuals. However, it was shown recently that antibodies to certain gliadin peptides occur with high specificity in CD patient sera. We developed a solid phase lanthanide-based immunofluorometric assay for simultaneous detection of serum IgA and IgG antibodies to a synthetic peptide derived from gamma gliadin of wheat comprising amino acids 86-103. Three glutamine residues of this native 18-mer peptide were replaced by glutamic acids and the peptide was biotinylated. Sera from 87 individuals who had undergone duodenal biopsy and were diagnosed with CD and from 81 healthy individuals were analysed for the presence of both IgA and IgG anti-gliadin peptide antibodies. The performance of the peptide AGA assay was excellent, showing a specificity and sensitivity of 90% and 92% for IgA, and 98% and 75% for IgG, respectively. The corresponding values for conventional anti-gliadin antibody (AGA) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests were 72% specificity and 87% sensitivity for IgA, and 64% specificity and 78% sensitivity for IgG. In a prospective study, almost all the tTGA-positive sera drawn from children who later developed CD were also positive for gliadin peptide antibodies.

Dynamics of diabetes-associated autoantibodies in young children with human leukocyte antigen-conferred risk of type 1 diabetes recruited from the general population.

This study characterized the dynamics of islet cell antibodies (ICA), insulin antibodies (IAA), glutamic acid decarboxylase antibodies (GADA), and IA-2 antibodies (IA-2A) in 1006 children recruited from the general population due to human leukocyte antigen (HLA) DQB1-conferred risk for type 1 diabetes (T1D). By the age of 5 yr, 13.8% of the children had had one or more autoantibodies in at least one sample drawn at 3- to 12-month intervals from birth, whereas 6.1% had had one or more of the three autoantibodies to biochemically defined antigens in at least two consecutive samples. The cumulative frequencies of positivity for at least two antibodies ranged from 3.2-4.4%. Seventy-five children (7.5%) had at least once ICA, 83 (8.3%) had IAA, 46 (4.6%) had GADA, and 33 (3.3%) had IA-2A. IAA were transient more frequently than the other antibodies (P < or = 0.03) and fluctuated between positivity and negativity more often than ICA (P = 0.001). The genetically high risk children were positive for each autoantibody reactivity more often (P < or = 0.03) than the moderate risk subjects. Thirteen of the 1006 children (1.3%) presented with T1D by the age of 5 yr. The most sensitive predictors of T1D were ICA and IAA, whereas the most specific predictor was IA-2A. Positivity for at least two autoantibodies of IAA, GADA, and IA-2A had the highest positive predictive value for T1D (34%). We conclude that the frequency of various diabetes-associated autoantibodies increases at a relatively stable rate at least up to the age of 5 yr. Persistent positivity for two or more autoantibodies appears to reflect destructive progressive beta-cell autoimmunity, whereas positivity for a single autoantibody may represent harmless nonprogressive or even regressive beta-cell autoimmunity.

Affinity maturation of immunoglobulin A anti-tissue transglutaminase autoantibodies during development of coeliac disease.

Coeliac disease (CD) is an immune-mediated enteropathy triggered by ingestion of wheat gluten and related cereals in genetically predisposed individuals. Circulating immunoglobulin A (IgA) class autoantibodies against tissue transglutaminase (IgA-TGA) are highly specific and sensitive serological markers for CD, which is ultimately confirmed by duodenal biopsy. Although CD is considered a life-long disorder, transient or fluctuating IgA-TGA seropositivity has been observed in asymptomatic individuals on a gluten-containing diet. We set out to explore possible differences in the maturation of IgA-TGA avidity between individuals progressing to CD and subjects remaining healthy despite occasional expression of autoantibodies. We developed a time-resolved fluorometric IgA-TGA assay based on human recombinant tissue transglutaminase (tTG), and further modified the method to also measure urea-dependent avidity of the autoantibodies. We measured the autoantibody titres and avidities of sequential serum samples from 10 children developing CD and 10 children presenting transient or fluctuating autoantibodies. Both the initial titres at seroconversion and peak values of transient/fluctuating IgA-TGA were significantly lower than corresponding autoantibody titres in samples drawn from individuals with progressing CD (P = 0.004 and P = 0.0002, respectively). However, there were no statistically significant differences in the initial or peak avidity index values between the two groups of children. The avidity index values increased during the follow-up period (P = 0.013 for both groups) with no significant difference in the rate of avidity maturation between children with transient/fluctuating IgA-TGA and children developing CD. According to our results, high autoantibody titres have a higher predictive value than avidity maturation of TGA-IgA in screening for CD.

IA-2 antibody isotypes and epitope specificity during the prediabetic process in children with HLA-conferred susceptibility to type I diabetes.

The natural history of preclinical diabetes is partly characterized, but there is still limited information on the dynamics of the immune response to beta-cell autoantigens during the course of preclinical disease. The aim of this work was to assess the maturation of the humoral immune response to the protein tyrosine phosphatase(PTP)-related proteins (IA-2 and IA-2beta) in preclinical type I diabetes (TID). Forty-five children participating in the Finnish Type I Diabetes Prediction and Prevention (DIPP) Study who had seroconverted to IA-2 antibody positivity were analysed. Specific radiobinding assays were used to determine IA-2/IA-2beta epitope-specific antibodies (the juxtamembrane (JM) region of IA-2, PTP-like domain and betaPTP-like domain) and isotype-specific IA-2 antibodies. Individual areas under the curve (AUC) over the observation period were calculated for total IA-2 antibodies, each isotype and specific epitope responses. The children who progressed to TID tended to have an initial IA-2 JM epitope response more frequently (P = 0.06), and this response was more often dominant during the observation period (P < 0.05). The children who did not progress to TID had IgE-IA-2 more frequently (70%; versus progressors 27%; P < 0.05), and had higher integrated titres of IgE-IA-2 antibodies (P < 0.05). The occurrence of IgE-IA-2 antibodies was protective even when combined with positivity for IA-2 JM antibodies (P = 0.002). IgE-IA-2 antibody reactivity may be a marker of a regulatory immune response providing protection against or delaying progression to TID among IA-2 antibody-positive young children with HLA-conferred disease susceptibility.

The effect of HLA class II, insulin and CTLA4 gene regions on the development of humoral beta cell autoimmunity.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this study was to explore the contribution of genetic factors to the emergence of beta-cell-specific humoral autoimmunity. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We analysed the effect of HLA class II, insulin (INS; -23 HphI variant) and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA4 [+49 and CT60]) genes on the appearance of beta-cell-specific autoantibodies in a large population-based birth cohort recruited in Finland. Infants carrying increased risk HLA DQB1 genotypes were monitored for the appearance of autoantibodies (islet cell autoantibodies [ICA], insulin autoantibodies [IAA], glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibodies [GADA] and islet antigen 2 antibodies [IA-2A]). Those who developed beta-cell-specific autoantibodies were studied (n=574, mean follow-up time: 4.9 years; range 0.5-9.3). RESULTS: IAA emerged at a higher rate in children with the -23 HphI AA INS genotype than in those carrying AT or TT variants (hazard ratio 2.1, 95% CI 1.4-2.9, p<0.001). This effect of the INS locus was present in both HLA DQB1 risk groups. The appearance of IAA showed a strong association also with the HLA DRB1*0401 allele (hazard ratio 13.1, 95% CI 1.8-93.4, p<0.001). The development of IA-2A was also somewhat accelerated by the DRB1*0401 variant (p=0.03). Isolated ICA positivity was independent of the HLA and INS genotypes. None of the humoral immune markers showed association with the CTLA4 gene. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: The INS and the DRB1 loci appear to contribute to the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes by initiating/modifying insulin-specific autoimmunity. The emergence of IAA represents a crucial step in the development of beta cell autoimmunity in young children, in whom the appearance of GADA and IA-2A is linked to IAA.

Isolation of enterovirus strains from children with preclinical Type 1 diabetes.

AIMS: To develop methods for isolation of enterovirus strains from subjects with preclinical Type 1 diabetes and evaluate if their presence in stools is associated with beta-cell damage. METHODS: The study subjects were participants of the Finnish Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention Study (DIPP). The prospectively followed birth cohort comprised 12 children who turned positive for diabetes-associated autoantibodies during the follow-up (case children) and 53 controls matched for date of birth, sex and HLA-DQB1 alleles. Altogether, 878 stool samples were analysed for the presence of enterovirus RNA by RT-PCR followed by virus isolation and partial sequencing of viral genome. Enterovirus antibodies and RNA were simultaneously analysed from serum. RESULTS: Eleven enterovirus infections were diagnosed in case children and 42 infections in control children by the presence of viral RNA in stools. The proportion of children who were repeatedly enterovirus RNA-positive stools was higher among case than control children (42% vs. 11% of children; P=0.02). Combined serum (antibody and RT-PCR) and stool analyses indicated at least one enterovirus infection in 83% of the case children before the appearance of autoantibodies, while only 42% of the control children had infection by the same age (P=0.006). Twelve enterovirus strains were isolated from case children and 38 strains from control children. CONCLUSIONS: This protocol makes it possible to isolate a large number of enterovirus strains from prediabetic subjects. The findings suggest that enterovirus infections may be associated with the beta-cell damaging process.

Humoral beta-cell autoimmunity is rare in patients with the congenital rubella syndrome.

The congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) is associated with increased risk for diabetes and thyroid disease. However, the mechanisms by which the rubella virus may cause these diseases are poorly characterized. Previous studies were carried out before modern immunological methods were available. The present study aimed at evaluating whether autoimmune mechanisms are involved in the pathogenesis by analysing antibodies to biochemically characterized autoantigens. The incidence of clinical diabetes, thyroid disease, coeliac disease and related antibodies (islet cell antibodies, ICA; insulin autoantibodies, IAA; antibodies to the tyrosine phosphatase related IA-2 molecule, IA-2 A and glutamic acid decarboxylase, GADA; thyroid peroxidase, TPO; tissue transglutaminase, TTGA; and gliadin, AGA) and HLA risk genotypes were analysed in 37 subjects affected by or exposed to rubella during fetal life (mean age 22.5 years). One patient had diabetes and four patients had clinical hypothyroidism at the time of the examination. ICA, IAA, GADA or IA-2 A were not detected in any of the patients, while five patients tested positive for TPO antibodies. Coeliac disease or TTGA were not observed. Eight patients carried the HLA-DR3-associated HLA-DQB1*02-DQA1*05 haplotype. These results provide no evidence of an increased frequency of markers for humoral beta-cell autoimmunity in patients with CRS suggesting that diabetes in CRS may be caused by other than autoimmune mechanisms.